The Navy’s first female captain of an aircraft carrier is taking her crew to sea for the very first time.
The USS Abraham Lincoln made history on Monday when the vessel deployed for the first time with its new captain, Amy Bauernschmidt, at the helm. Bauernschmidt is the first female captain to lead a nuclear aircraft carrier in U.S. naval history.
“These Sailors are incredible professionals who have trained exceptionally hard to ensure they are ready for any operational obligations required of us on deployment,” Bauernschmidt said in a press release. “They are absolutely prepared for today’s deployment, and I have no doubt they will represent our nation proudly as we defend our national interests.”
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The USS Abraham Lincoln departed with its strike group from San Diego at Naval Air Station North Island for a regularly scheduled deployment in support of global maritime security operations, the U.S. 3rd Fleet said.
Bauernschmidt assumed command of the USS Abraham Lincoln in August, replacing its previous captain, Walt “Sarge” Slaughter, the Navy said in a press release.
“There is no more humbling sense of responsibility than to know you are entrusted with the care of the people who have chosen to protect our nation,” said Bauernschmidt at her change of command ceremony.
A Milwaukee native, Bauernschmidt joined the Navy in 1994 when she graduated from the Naval Academy with a bachelor’s in ocean engineering. It was also the first class where women were allowed to serve aboard combatant ships, reports Stars and Stripes. She went on to earn a master’s at the Naval War College and was designated a naval aviator in 1996, the Navy said in her bio. She was also the first female executive officer aboard a carrier after stepping into that role aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in 2016, according to her Navy bio.
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The USS Abraham Lincoln will be flanked by Carrier Strike Group 3, which includes the guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay and guided-missile destroyers USS Fitzgerald, USS Gridley, USS Sampson, and USS Spruance, the 3rd Fleet says.
